January 16, 2008

The film was supposed to be about a wacky gang of nerds (including Kristen Bell) who break into Skywalker ranch to steal a copy of Episode 1 so their cancerous friend can see it before he dies. But test audiences (fuck them) have said that cancer is a bummer, so now it's just going to be nerds that break into Skywalker ranch to watch episode 1 before anyone else.

Bah.

Citing anonymous sources, the site reported that comedy hitmaker Judd Apatow is not involved with a proposed recut of the film, as previously rumored, but rather that Apatow's producer, Shauna Robertson, is working on reshaping the film.

Among the concerns: The original film has a group of Star Wars fans scheming to break into Skywalker Ranch in the early 1990s to screen a preview version of Episode I for their friend, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Producers reportedly feel that the cancer storyline is too much of a downer and want it excised. Whether or not that happens depends in part on test screenings this week, the site reported.

The site added that additional material is to be shot, but that no new writing has taken place while the writers' strike continues. Rather, the reshoots are reportedly based on actor improvisations or old pages from unused drafts or earlier versions of the script. Fanboys still has no release date.

January 15, 2008

Everybody's favorite bounty hunter Boba Fett will have a starring role in the new Star Wars TV series, which takes place between the trilogies. Fett, who was a minor action figure-y character in the original trilogy, appeared as a kid in the prequels when his dad was cloned into a shiny white army. So now we get to see him mature and develop into a well-rounded adult. Or not.

7:20 p.m. Jason Statham is muscled medieval farmer. His name is Farmer. Has a pig. Has a son. Has a wife with impressively plunging neckline. Big bad beasties lurk in forest. Wife and boy go to market with cartload of turnips. Beasties attack. I fear for turnips' safety. Boy's too. Farmer arrives late. Revenge is vowed.

7:30 p.m. Note that movie is shot in Canadian Rockies. Try to remember history. Can't recall if armoured knights wandered Rockies in the Middle Ages. Note further that director is Uwe Boll. Watch Uwe plunk computer-generated castle right in midst of the real Rockies. Phony castle looks majestic. Real Rockies don't.

7:40 p.m. Liotta is back. Clothed. Supposed to be an evil sorcerer. Doesn't look like one. Wears a sequined jacket with high collar. And a scarf, and pompadour, and a puffy face. I get excited. Could be an Elvis spotting.

January 10, 2008

Now that the show's focus has widened to include my own trade, its almost Aristotelian* emphasis on virtue and craft seems even more emphatic. This thread runs throughout the series, a constant opposition of those who care about "the job" and those who care about the career.

The "natural po-lice" are craftsmen. They study the craft, learn the craft, and do it well. The central conflicts of the show are not between the police and the criminals, but between those who respect the craft and those who do not -- between those who view the standards of the craft as the most important set of rules and those who would substitute some other measure of success.

The dynamic is repeated, echoed and underscored in every setting. The same dividing line between craftsmen and careerists is seen in the school system, on the docks, in city hall and -- most explicitly -- among the drug dealers and others operating outside the law. Omar Little and Brother Mouzone could hardly be more different, but they find mutual respect due to their shared commitment to their peculiar craft.